Steelers Film Room: T Mike Adams Against The Bills

By Alex Kozora

Film breakdown of the play of Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Mike Adams versus the Buffalo Bills.

THE GOOD

1. 1st and 20, 7:46 3rd. No picture or GIF really worth showing but Adams does a nice job setting his hips and sealing the defensive end on a run off Adams’ outside hip. Opened up a lane even if the run only amounted for a few yards.

2. 2nd 10, 1:11 3rd. Probably his best play of the night. Glances at the three tech providing the slightest of help before shuffling over and sealing the end. Shows a good angle and some quickness to reach the edge.

3. 3rd and 9, 7:03 4th. Grasping at straws here a little but does he does at least show a clean, sound base on this quick throw.

THE BAD

1. 1st and 10, 15:00 3rd. His first snap of the game. Manny Lawson bull rushes him, getting into Adams’ pads. Watch Adams’ lower half. His left knee locks up and the power he could derive from disappears. It causes him to be walked back.

Bull rushes are never pretty to defend but you still have to maintain your lower half. Keep the knees bent, the feet moving. Adams fails to do either here.

2. 1st and 10, 9:15 3rd. We’re off to a good start here. Clean enough kickside and Adams is ready to shoot his hands.

But then the defensive end smacks them away and from that moment, Adams has lost. Simply not able to recover and get reengaged. Can’t get his hands back into the play.

3. 3rd and 5, 6:30 3rd. One of his many recurring issues. Feet going dead on his punch. Here is Adams on his punch.

And then a few frames later as the DE starts to swap hips and slip past.

Pay close attention to the position of Adams’ left foot.

In the first shot, it’s positioned at about the 23 yard line, perhaps a shade inside. On the second, it’s about a foot in front of the 22. Meaning, his foot had moved only about two feet from his punch to trying to slide and seal the end. Won’t cut it in the NFL. Not even close.

Unsurprisingly, he gets beat and is now in trail. Does have some strength to help seal the edge but there may have still be pressure had the pass not been released when it was.

5. 3rd and 14, 3:17 3rd. The defensive end has his hands to the inside of Adams, putting him in control. It’s a position of power. He’s able to knock the tackles’ hands away.

6. 2nd and 9, 7:11 4th. This appears to be a pass play Bruce Gradkowski checks to. Makes sense to get out of the run due to the eight man front. Mike Adams apparently doesn’t get the memo, firing off the ball with low hat (helmet down).

He chips and works to the second level, apparently thinking this is still a called run. Add missed assignments to the list of woes from his game so far.

7. 1st and 10, 1:56 4th. Adams’ hands are lower than that of the ends and his head is down on contact. Both negatives. Need to see what you hit. Lets the defensive end get into his pads, which he does, and again, put himself into control.

Compare the helmet of Adams to Guy Whimper’s.

As a result, Adams gets leveraged and upright yet again.

8. 1st and 10, :49 4th. Seeing the same issues. Maybe even worse here. Defensive end stabs into the tackle’s pads, once again getting under him. Adams is only grabbing onto his elbow and has zero sense of leverage or power.

Adams gets leveraged so much that his left leg completely comes off the ground. Flies up into the air. It’s not a step back, attempting to give ground – as you’ll see in the GIF and pictures below – it’s Adams not being able to effectively absorb the punch and getting thrown off his base. There’s no power anymore for Adams. He’s on skates and isn’t going to be able to anchor. That power comes from your lower half. And that’s hard to do when your leg is nearly at a 90 degree angle.

And the worst part? The defeneder is Ike Igbinsoun, the second-year man and short-lived Steeler. He’s almost certain to be cut. So that’s Adams losing – badly – to a guy who is going to hand in his playbook in ten days.

Maybe Adams should, too.

THE VERDICT

You already know how I feel about this performance. It was ugly and all of Adams’ bad habits were again revealed.

From an overall picture, Adams still can’t think and play. Can’t multi-task. He’s either so worried about his technique that he plays slow and you get issues like his legs going dead on his punch. Or he is able to seal by abandoning his kickslide and getting by on raw talent. He isn’t able to multi-task. Shoot his arms and bend his knees. Punch and keep moving laterally.

For a guy in his third year, it’s never seemed like he’s adjusted to the speed of the game. At this point, he should, and I don’t know if he ever will be able to.

The Pittsburgh Steelers need to take a serious look at targeting the best swing tackle available at the final cutdown date. The Steelers just can’t count on Mike Adams to play, even over the short term. They need to add someone they can rely on in the event of an injury.

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Cmon Tomlin and staff; when will you see the obvious… why keep this deadweight on the roster. At this point don’t you really start to question his upside?

Pete Johnson

Wow. There is absolutely no reason this guy should be on the roster after the final cut to 53. None. He sucks, was a wasted pick and you need to move on. Now the problem with that is that Whimper is just as bad, so once again the lack of depth at yet another position is glaring. If this team suffers even a moderate injury at any one of 5 positions there are going to be problems.

steeltown

I think the #1 position that needs to be targeted on waivers is OT, of course after yesterdays events, I guess RB could be a close 2nd

ApexSteel

It’s getting ridiculous. At first I just just skeptical with him, but no amount of Mike Munchek will help him. He’s done.

Mark_K

I think the question becomes; if you cut him will there be anything out there better on the waiver wire to pick up? He may not be worth what he’s getting paid but might be the best thing available at this point. …….

Zach

I agree with most things you said, but the injury would be a killer only at the T position. C would be fine (Wallace did OK last year) and G would be roughly OK. if one of our Ts go down, however, we are done.

dgh57

Haha, what a JOKE of a OT Adams has become! Before the OTAs I gave the benefit of the doubt to Adams thinking working under Munchak would do him some good. It seemed to work for Gilbert after all he did get a shinny new contract. But Adams is plainly headed in the opposite direction and seems he doesn’t have what in takes between the ears or the first thing any player needs and that’s the mental aspects of the game if he can’t GET IT learning from Munchak. Sadly lack of depth is the only thing keeping him around so hopefully Gilbert/Beachum can stay healthy for all 16 games because we have a franchise QB to protect here!!

Zach

you’re right, plus the guy has been relatively healthy, so it would be tough to cut a health body with (bad) starting experience for something unknown.

Dorkewicz

It’s troubling to see no improvement in his pass blocking even after a couple of years of experience and getting a chance to work with a great line coach like Munchak. The only use I see with him is goalline packages where he’s an extra TE exclusively on run plays:/

BFB

What is the alternative? Whimper? If we pick up another cats off to be the swing would we really benefit? It is someone else’s cut after all. Trading like for like with the exception the new guy would come in not knowing the system or offense. Only if Starks is cut do we “fish”. Sometimes you eat the fish that is caught.

blackandgoldBullion

Hopefully Munchack knows some guys out there that he likes, guys that might become available at the final cutdown in September. They might be young but promising, and Mike might know how to help them. I thought he could help Adams, to be candid, but how much time will it take. Could he ever help Adams. We shall see.

Tammie Sherrell Hill

Its time to cut our loses with adams and carter waist of space

charles

Rainey, Taamu, Wesley Saunders, and Adams. Colbert made some gambles 3 yrs ago and all have busted. Bell and Blount have timed things abysmally. Why Can’t These Guys Smoke Their Pot In The OFFSEASON?

Alex Kozora

You can’t do any worse than Adams. Can only get better. Low risk, marginal reward. Worth it.